TONIGHT IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Toronto (21-23) at Boston (24-17) 1:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- BOSTON (Ticker) -- The surging Boston Red Sox look to continue their winning ways this afternoon when they oppose the Toronto Blue Jays in the middle of a three-game set at Fenway Park. Friday's 5-2 victory over the Blue Jays gave the Red Sox wins in 12 of their last 15 games following a 12-14 start. They are 9-2 in their last 11 at Fenway Park. Boston has allowed just eight runs in its last four contests. Winless since his first start of the season, Tim Wakefield (1-4, 6.88 ERA) gets the ball for Boston. The knuckleballer is 0-4 with two saves in nine appearances since defeating Kansas City on April 8. He allowed three runs and seven hits over five innings in a no-decision against Carpenter and the Blue Jays on Monday. Wakefield is 2-5 lifetime against Toronto. The Jays have alternated wins and losses in their last seven games and are just 9-19 afer a 12-4 start. Chris Carpenter (3-3, 2.86) hopes for a little better luck when he starts for Toronto. The righthander is 0-2 in his last three starts despite allowing just eight earned runs and 23 hits over 23 innings with three walks and 17 strikeouts. He gave up three runs and eight hits in eight innings Monday in a no-decision against the Red Sox at SkyDome. Carpenter is 0-1 in four lifetime starts against Boston. Boston leads the season series, 4-1. Detroit (18-23) at Cleveland (29-11) 1:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians look to avoid very rare consecutive losses today when they continue a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers. The Indians had their three-game winning streak snapped Friday as Frank Catalanotto homered twice, leading the Tigers to a 9-6 victory. Cleveland has won nine of its last 11 games and owns the best record in the majors. The Indians have lost back-to-back games only once this season, at Boston April 24-25. Jaret Wright (4-1, 6.13 ERA) tries to rebound from his worst start of the season for Cleveland. Wright was tagged for eight runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings in Sunday's 9-3 loss to the Tigers, dropping his lifetime mark against them to 2-3. The righthander had surrendered just six earned runs in his previous 19 1/3 innings. Detroit has won four of six following a five-game losing streak. Jeff Weaver (4-3, 3.23 ERA) seeks to continue his solid rookie season for Detroit. The righthander has allowed three runs or less in all but one of his seven starts and pitched at least five innings six times. He limited the mighty Indians to two runs and five hits over six innings with two walks and five strikeouts in a 9-3 victory Sunday. Texas (22-19) at Baltimore (15-26) 1:35 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Hit hard in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers starter Aaron Sele hopes for better results today as the team continue a three-game series. Sele (3-4, 6.30 ERA) was lit up for nine runs and 11 hits over 2 1/3 innings in Sunday's 16-5 loss to Baltimore. The righthander has lost his last three starts and is winless in four straight since opening the season 3-1. Since lasting seven innings in his first start, Sele has not gone more than 5 2/3 innings in his last seven outings. Sele is 4-6 lifetime against Baltimore. The Orioles eged the Rangers Friday, 3-2, as Sidney Ponson worked through a shaky ninth inning for his first career complete game. Baltimore has lost eight of its last 11 games overall but has won six of eight at Camden Yards. Orioles left fielder B.J. Surhoff is batting .382 (21-for-55) during a 12-game hitting streak. Texas first baseman Rafael Palmeiro, a former Oriole, is 7-for-12 with four homers and eight RBI in his last three games. He is batting .373 with 12 homers and 37 RBI in 40 games this season. Juan Guzman (1-4, 5.88) faces the Rangers for the second time in as many starts. The righthander limited Texas to one run and two hits over four innings in a no-decision last Saturday but left with back spasms. Since getting off to a brutal start, Guzman has pitched better in his last three outings, allowing six runs and 15 hits in 18 innings. Guzman is 4-6 lifetime against Texas. The Rangers have won three of five meetings between the teams this season. Anaheim (19-23) at Tampa Bay (22-20) 6:35 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- The Tampa Bay Devil Rays try to make it six wins in seven games tonight and continue their offensive prowess against the Anaheim Angels. Jose Canseco hit his major league-leading 17th home run and Wade Boggs had two hits in his return from the disabled list as the Devil Rays held off the Angels, 10-9, on Friday. Tampa Bay has won five of its last six games, scoring 44 runs in that span. With his two hits, Boggs moved past Frank Robinson into 25th place on the all-time list. He is 55 hits away from the coveted 3,000 plateau. Wilson Alvarez (2-2, 2.97 ERA) takes the mound for the Rays. The lefty defeated the Angels and Sparks on Sunday, yielding two runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings with four walks and six strikeouts. Alvarez has been very sharp in four starts since coming off the disabled list, allowing just six runs -- three earned -- and 14 hits in 25 innings. Alvarez is 7-8 lifetime against the Angels. Anaheim has lost four of its last six games overall but has won five of seven on the road. Dismal in his last two starts, Anaheim's Steve Sparks (1-4, 5.91) hopes for a reversal of fortune tonight. The knuckleballer is 0-1 in his last two outings, getting tagged for 11 runs and 14 hits over seven innings. Sparks has surrendered five runs or more in half of his eight starts. Sparks gave up six runs and 10 hits over four innings in a 7-4 loss to the Devil Rays on Sunday. In two career starts against Tampa Bay, he has been lit up for 11 runs and 13 hits over five innings. NY Yankees (22-17) at Chi White Sox (18-19) 4:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Roger Clemens, making his first start this month, can establish a new American League record for consecutive wins tonight when the New York Yankees meet the Chicago White Sox in the opener of a doubleheader. This game was originally slated for Friday, but rain forced the postponement of that contest and it was rescheduled as part of a doubleheader for today. Clemens (2-0, 5.47 ERA) was activated Friday after spending more than three weeks on the disabled list with a strained hamstring. He left his last start on April 27 at Texas due to the injury. Clemens yielded five runs in that outing but his teammates got him off the hook with a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Rangers. The defending two-time Cy Young winner has not lost a decision since May 29, 1998 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. His 17 consecutive wins ties him with Baltimore's Dave McNally from 1968-69 and Cleveland's Johnny Allen from 1936-37 for the AL mark. Orlando Hernandez pitched eight solid innings and Bernie Williams drove in a pair of runs as the Yankees salvaged the finale of a three-game set with Boston, 3-1, on Thurday. New York has dropped eight of its last 11 games and enters tonight's game one-half game behind the Red Sox for the top spot in the AL East. The White Sox, who are below the .500 mark for the first time since April 18, have lost four in a row including a three-game sweep against Cleveland. Chicago was outscored, 39-16 by the Indians. Chicago ace John Snyder (6-1, 2.00) has won six straight starts and although he is no immediate threat to Clemens' streak, pitched six solid innings in a 12-4 victory at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Chicago took two of three games in that series, outscoring the Yankees, 20-6 in winning the first two. Rookie Carlos Lee has three homers and 11 RBI in his first nine games with Chicago. NY Yankees at Chi White Sox 2nd game ---------------------------------------------------------------- CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Andy Pettitte looks to defeat the Chicago White Sox for the second time in a week as he takes the mound for the New York Yankees in the finale of a doubleheader. Pettitte (2-1, 5.14 ERA) faced Chicago on Sunday and tossed six strong innings, yielding one run and seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts in a 2-1 victory. He improved to 7-2 lifetime against the White Sox. The lefthander is unbeaten in his last three starts after going winless in his first three. He has lasted past the sixth inning and given up fewer than three runs just twice this season. Mike Sirotka (1-5, 3.28) gets the call for Chicago. He has pitched well recently but has received very little support. The southpaw, who turned 28 last week, lost to Pettitte last time out despite giving up just two runs with no walks and four strikeouts over eight innings. He is 0-3 over his last four starts, receiving just seven runs of support in that span while allowing nine earned runs over 27 1/3 innings. Seattle (20-21) at Kansas City (21-19) 8:05 EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The Seattle Mariners attempt to extend their season-high winning streak to six games and reach the .500 mark tonight when they continue a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals. Jamie Moyer pitched six strong innings to win his third straight start as the Mariners extended their season-high winning streak to five games with a 5-2 win over Kansas City in Friday's series opener. A win tonight would put the Mariners at .500 for the first time since April 13, when they were 4-4. Ken Cloude (3-1, 5.92 ERA) makes his third start of the season for Seattle tonight. The righthander has made 10 apperances this season with eight coming out of the bullpen. Cloude is 0-1 as starter and has been torched for 12 runs and 16 hits over 6 2/3 innings. One of Cloude's starts came against the Royals last Saturday, when he gave up five runs and 10 hits in five innings of a no-decision. Despite Friday's loss, the Royals have still won five of their last seven games. Chris Fussell (0-1, 6.00) makes his second start against Seattle in less than a week. In his first appearance as a Royal, Fussell gave up four runs and eight hits over six innings in a loss at Seattle on Sunday. Oakland (21-21) at Minnesota (14-27) 8:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Coming off a marathon victory on Friday, the Minnesota Twins attempt to make it two straight wins over the suddenly struggling Oakland Athletics tonight. The teams battled for four hours, 55 minutes on Friday before rookie Doug Mientkiewicz singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 15th inning to give the Twins a 2-1 victory. Minnesota snapped a six-game losing streak on Friday, but still owns the worst record in the American League, one game behind the Baltimore Orioles. Brad Radke (4-3, 3.65 ERA) is on the mound for the Twins. Radke had a three-game winning streak stopped at Oakland on Sunday, when he surrendered four runs and five hits over seven innings. Radke is 4-6 against Oakland lifetime. After reeling off a season-high six-game winning streak, the A's have matched a season-high four-game losing streak. They also dropped four in a row from April 26-29. Kenny Rogers (1-2, 4.58 ERA) makes his first start in 11 days for Oakland tonight. A 16-game winner last season, Rogers left his last start at Detroit on May 11 with back spasms after pitching just 1 1/3 innings. Oakland has won the last four times the lefthander has been on the mound. Rogers is 8-6 lifetime against Minnesota.  